Foxsat HDR - Box not responding to Remote

laceup

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Last Friday the remote of my Foxsat HDR appeared to stop working. I went away for the weekend and just got back today - STILL NOT WORKING. I tried new batteries by the way. The remote red lights are showing and it is sending as I can still use it to control my DVD - so I had a look at these forums and thought it may be due to the freeview. The problem is I connot do a factory or default reset as I can not enter the 0000 code without the remote. Using the controls on the box I did try a manual retune but now I have thousands of channnels and still have a remote that will not talk to the box.

Help!!!!
 
OK I have now done a freesat tune via the controls on the box and the channels list seems to be back to normal - any ideas on how to get my remote to work with the box???? Do I need to reprogram the remote with a Foxsat HDR code? As I said it is sending cause it works with my DVD!! - Driving me nuts. Perhaps the box remote receiver is not working? Back to the shop??
 
You've pulled the plug from the mains and left it for a couple of mins before trying again?

That's always the first course of action.
 
The Freesat HDR we have at work is always locking up and not accepting commands from the remote.

As Badger said above just a simple hard reset should sort it out. Hopefully they will sort it soon if it is a firmware related issue.

Luke
 
Thanks for the responses guys. Have tried this but no joy. Any other ideas???
 
Have you got it set to the right mode using the function buttons on the top of the remote. Only an idea, i havn't got one at home to have a look at. Where it say PVR,TV,DVD and stuff like that.

Other than that try some new battery's , slightly flat battery's will do strange things to some equipment.
 
Thanks Luke. Yep the correct button is selected. Have tried a few sets of batteries. As I say it's working for the DVD. This is why I think it may be a box malfunction. Maybe if I leave the bats out for a while it will reset itself?
 
Will try this Graham - also I read a post on another site that said take bats out of remote and press on/off button for a few mins to reset remote. Will try this evening and report back.
 
Ok just to put my mind at rest bought brand new Duracell bats - still no joy. I tried the thing Graham suggested and that did not work either. A trip to Comet may be required - should be fun (NOT)
 
Hi

I'm interested if laceup found a solution to this problem as our box has just started having exactly the same problems tonight! The remote just flashes "red" a few times on PVR when you press a button. If you switch off the box and back on again you get one "action" out of the remote before it stops working again... very confused by this.

I thought it may have something to do with the analouge switxhover but since this is running through the sky dish this shouldn't be a problem:confused:

I've re-tuned the box using the controls on the box itself but this hasn't fixed it either.

Any ideas people would be greatly appreciated!
 
Hi

I'm interested if laceup found a solution to this problem as our box has just started having exactly the same problems tonight! The remote just flashes "red" a few times on PVR when you press a button. If you switch off the box and back on again you get one "action" out of the remote before it stops working again... very confused by this.

I thought it may have something to do with the analouge switxhover but since this is running through the sky dish this shouldn't be a problem:confused:

I've re-tuned the box using the controls on the box itself but this hasn't fixed it either.

Any ideas people would be greatly appreciated!

Long shot - have you any low energy or flourescent type lighting in the same room. If so try turning them off
 
Hi Cillit Bang

I tryied everything suggested on this site and elsewhere but got no joy. I had the same problem as you - ie the remote would work for on action then it would freeze - it was not the remote as this still worked to control tv and dvd. I tried to solve it - but in the end I took it back to Comet (luckily it was not a year old - otherwise i would have been very upset!) they switched it there and then no questions asked. New one is working great>

If you do find a solution please post it here to help anyone who may have the same problem.

PS - you have taken the film off the inside of the front flap haven't you?

Lace up
 
Hi Cillit Bang

I tryied everything suggested on this site and elsewhere but got no joy. I had the same problem as you - ie the remote would work for on action then it would freeze - it was not the remote as this still worked to control tv and dvd. I tried to solve it - but in the end I took it back to Comet (luckily it was not a year old - otherwise i would have been very upset!) they switched it there and then no questions asked. New one is working great>

If you do find a solution please post it here to help anyone who may have the same problem.

PS - you have taken the film off the inside of the front flap haven't you?

Lace up

Appreciate the reply... Luckily mine is less than a year old as well (just!). Shall take it back over the weekend and moan at them for a new one.

Thanks
 
I believe it was probably a hard disk drive problem, when it gets back to Humax they probably just plug it into a PC and reformat the drive. Then put it on their website and sell it as reconditioned.

Hope they just swap it like Comet - rather than send it off for repairs - that was my concern when I took it back.

Good luck
 
I am on my second Foxsat HDR and it has locked up within a month of replacement. Waiting for a third. Sent an email to Humax to sort problem out. It would be ok if there was a reset button to un- lock the hard disk. If there is an alternative to the Foxsat I would go for it. When it works it is ok but when it goes wrong nothing can be done. Even the tech guys said we cannot unlock the box,it has to be replaced!!
 
I realise this thread is a little old now.
However, as there is no solution yet posted, it seems sensible to re-post one possible answer for future readers still desperately seeking a fix.

The Humax remote is capable of controlling other equipment in addition to the Humax Recorder. The target equipment is selected by the first four pale grey buttons just in front of the numeric keypad.

If TV, DVD or Audio has been pressed, then the Humax Recorder will not respond to the remote.

Therefore, press the PVR button and, seriously, the chances are extremely high that the recorder will now respond normally to remote commands.

This has already been mentioned in the thread but, when a longish list of failures has been recounted, and you are in a panic, there is a tendency to forget to try some of the possible cures! So please do try this simple procedure before taking the unit back for repair or replacement.
 
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now on 4th box given up with humax sending faulty boxes out and now not responding to emails (18 emails no reply) so went to comet straight exchange now OK
Humax customer service is the pits.
 
Posts refer to Freeview. Just for information, I have never had the problem with Freesat after I removed the transparent foil from the PVR screen (hard to detect and remove) and changed the batteries suppied, which failed after 3 days.
 
I have bought 7 Humax Foxsat HDR boxes over time for myself, friends and relatives. Apart from the silly & well reported software bugs etc, they have all been reliable until now.

One of them reports to me now that his HDR remote will not now control the HDR box at all. He had the box just over a year AFAIK. it was a Humax A grade sold unit, so only 1 year warranty I think.

I am travelling to his house later today to investigate myself and will take my handset to try to prove it is not his handset at fault. I have talked him though all the obvious tests and checks. He has deffo selected the PVR White button and it flashes red OK. it can still control his TV ok. He has removed remot batteries for a couple of minutes and reinserted, and has done box mains off for 30 minutes full reboot. Nothing apparently makes any difference.

The box appears to operate normally via the front panel concealed buttons as far as I can ascertain.
But has zero response to his handset. I wish it had an IR Rx confirmation LED like most other products have, as that would give a clue to what is going on.

It sounds to me as though the IR remote receiver in the HDR box has simply stopped working completely. I know this is an old thread now, but just thought I would bump it up again to see if any others have since had this fault and what the resolution is or was. If there is a previously known PCB dry joint or broken track that causes this, please advise ASAP as I could then fix it myself.

I suspect we will have to return the box to Humax UK for repair. Does anyone know how much they charge for repairs etc? Are they likely to do it FOC as goodwill as it is only just out of warranty? Anybody know what the exact cause of the fault may be please?

Thanks and regards

Peter.
 
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You can check a IR remote is outputting IR using a digital camera. Open the shutter in a dark room and point the remote at the camera. The output if present will be captured on the image. Replacement remotes are available cheaply on flea bay.
 
You can check a IR remote is outputting IR using a digital camera. Open the shutter in a dark room and point the remote at the camera. The output if present will be captured on the image. Replacement remotes are available cheaply on flea bay.

Hi Graham

Yes I have done that trick before but thanks for the tip. Most mobile phones have handy cameras now, so its even easier to try this test.

Of course it would only prove that the IR transmitter LED is illuminating. It would not prove that the correct modulation carrier and codes are being generated. His HDR remote still works fine with his TV, so I think it quite unlikely to be a faulty handset in this case. I will take my own working remote to verify this anyway.

I hope it does turn out to be a bad handset, as this is easy to fix by a handset replacement, but experience tells me this is quite unlikely. The handset is quite unlikely to have a fault which kills the PVR operate mode but leaves the TV operate mode working fine.

I will report the outcome in due course.

Cheers

Peter
 
Hi Graham

Yes I have done that trick before but thanks for the tip. Most mobile phones have handy cameras now, so its even easier to try this test.

Of course it would only prove that the IR transmitter LED is illuminating. It would not prove that the correct modulation carrier and codes are being generated. His HDR remote still works fine with his TV, so I think it quite unlikely to be a faulty handset in this case. I will take my own working remote to verify this anyway.

I hope it does turn out to be a bad handset, as this is easy to fix by a handset replacement, but experience tells me this is quite unlikely. The handset is quite unlikely to have a fault which kills the PVR operate mode but leaves the TV operate mode working fine.

I will report the outcome in due course.

Cheers

Peter

Humax can have different codes for remotes so that you can use more than one box in the same room ! Check there hasen't been a default reset on either the box or the remote. This may explain why the TV still works from the remote but not the Humax.
 
Humax can have different codes for remotes so that you can use more than one box in the same room ! Check there hasen't been a default reset on either the box or the remote. This may explain why the TV still works from the remote but not the Humax.

Thanks. That's very interesting. Just got back from investigating the problem. It is not the box but the handset itself. My handset works fine with his box. His handset works fine with his TV, but the codes it is sending out in PVR mode are not recognised by the Foxsat box. Naturally it has worked fine for a year but has recently gone weird like this. It is just as though, the default codes fit the PVR mode have become changed or corrupted in some way.

I tried removing the batteries and shorting the contacts to discharge and pressing the button with batteries out etc etc. Still same when batteries reinserted again.

Do you or anyone know how to set the codes for the PVR mode please? I feel that it just wants resetting with correct default codes to match the box. I have his handset here along with my own and it will not control my HDR box either. I was planning to phone Humax UK and would expect them to post me a new handset, though if it can be fixed by just entering codes or something. Then I am happy to give that a go firstly.

The phone camera test reveals it is sending IR codes but just the wrong ones??

Thanks again

Regards

Peter
 
Thanks. That's very interesting. Just got back from investigating the problem. It is not the box but the handset itself. My handset works fine with his box. His handset works fine with his TV, but the codes it is sending out in PVR mode are not recognised by the Foxsat box. Naturally it has worked fine for a year but has recently gone weird like this. It is just as though, the default codes fit the PVR mode have become changed or corrupted in some way.

I tried removing the batteries and shorting the contacts to discharge and pressing the button with batteries out etc etc. Still same when batteries reinserted again.

Do you or anyone know how to set the codes for the PVR mode please? I feel that it just wants resetting with correct default codes to match the box. I have his handset here along with my own and it will not control my HDR box either. I was planning to phone Humax UK and would expect them to post me a new handset, though if it can be fixed by just entering codes or something. Then I am happy to give that a go firstly.

The phone camera test reveals it is sending IR codes but just the wrong ones??

Thanks again

Regards

Peter

See post 8 in this thread.
 

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